Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 January 2022
1760. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the details of the agreement in place between the HSE and private hospitals in respect of access to capacity in private facilities; the number of private hospitals partaking in the agreement; if all participating private hospitals are signed up to equivalent terms; the cost per private bed; if a cost is incurred on unused additional capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1664/22]
View answerIn January 2021 all 18 private hospitals signed a Safety Net 2 agreement to provide additional hospital capacity to the HSE to deal with the surge in Covid-19. Under the agreement the HSE can obtain up to 15% or 30% of the private hospitals’ capacity, depending on certain metrics regarding the level of community transmission of the disease, or numbers hospitalised or in ICUs occurring. The agreement remains in place until between the middle or end of January 2022, depending on the hospital concerned. The arrangement provides that where the HSE invokes the agreement but does not use the full capacity sought it makes a payment for the unused capacity.
The HSE also made use of private hospital capacity, through a Safety Net 3 arrangement it made with the private hospitals, to help it deal with the cyber-attack which occurred in May 2021.
The cost to the middle of December, the latest date for which figures are available, for both arrangements was €142m of which €11 was made for retainer payments.
The HSE and the private hospitals have agreed an amended and extended Safety Net agreement, Safety Net 4, building on the lessons learnt from the operation of Safety Net agreements 2 and 3. The agreement will be submitted to Government shortly for its approval and if Government agrees to it, the details will be made available at then.
